Voters OK $620K override in Templeton

Voters OK $620K override in Templeton

Town had faced 30-percent municipal budget cuts to fund school assessment
Kerry O'Brien
News Staff Writer

TEMPLETON — By a 958-736 margin, the nearly 1,700 voters who turned out at the polls for Tuesday’s special election approved the Board of Selectmen’s requested $620,000 Proposition 2 1/2 override.

The funding was sought to provide an additional sum for the Narragansett Regional School District’s budget and reinstate town employees’ hours while staving off major cuts to town services.


“We’d like to see it pass and see the town get the resources they need,” said voter Bob Tremblay. “We don’t have kids, so the school is not a priority to us, but the things we all invest in are. We all live in town, we share a common interest.”

The selectmen requested the override after Templeton and Phillipston voters at an Aug. 22 joint town meeting approved providing Narragansett with its full budget request for the current fiscal year.

That increased Templeton’s assessment by approximately $561,000 over what had initially been approved, with the town obligated to provide the additional funding.

Templeton voters had previously rejected providing the school district with its full assessment through an override. Tuesday’s request was brought forward to avoid significant cuts to town departments, which would otherwise have been needed to fund the school budget.

“Voters voted down the school budget more than once,” said Steve Schroeder. “I decided to vote ‘yes’ because I don’t want to lose services and I saw that there was a potential ... I voted ‘yes,’ but I’m not happy about it.”

At the Advisory Board’s recommendation, the select board had all town departments prepare for 30-percent cuts in the event Tuesday’s override failed.

“It means that there won’t be any cuts to services and the school will get their budget,” said Selectman Kenn Robinson following the vote.

For the Police Department, the override’s failure would have meant cutting four full-time officers and losing station coverage between 2 a.m. and 10 a.m..

“I think it’d be very unfortunate what could have happened if the highway and police departments were under-manned,” said Police Officer Ed Holden, who has worked for the department seven years and was among the potential cuts. “There would be no one to plow the roads, no police to respond first to medical calls in the middle of the night because the fire department is on call. I think (the vote) went in the direction to get the town back to where we should be.”

“I’m glad they came out for us,” said Police Officer Robert Fagundes, who also could have lost his position. “(I’m) ecstatic.”

A Special Town Meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Oct. 23 at Narragansett Middle School, as state law requires the town meeting to approve where the funding raised through the override will be allocated.

The selectmen are asking voters to approve using the $620,000 to give Narragansett its $561,000 and provide approximately $60,000 to reinstate full-time employees’ hours that were cut in 2012.